Network theories for technology-enabled learning and social change: Connectivism and actor network theory (original) (raw)
Related papers
Actor network theory and the study of online learning
Quality education at a distance, 2003
How innovations in tertiary education are theorised and understood is important for both policy and practice. This paper describes an approach to studying innovation and change that is taken from the field of Science and Technology Studies. Actor-network theory draws attention to the performative nature of the implementation of new technologies like quality systems and online teaching. The theory posits that the world is not populated with entities that possess certain essences in and of themselves, but rather that the world is a texture of relations—a network—which occasionally produces the effect of stabilised entities. We examine the consequences of producing durable forms of online teaching and quality assurance and argue that contrary to popular claims about the benefits of these technologies that to achieve durable performances requires a conformity to existing performances of a university thus reproducing current patterns of inequity.
2014
Massive open online courses (MOOCs) are growing exponentially in higher education. They have attracted the attention of higher education institutions, course designers, and policy makers. They challenge the mainstream of higher education and provide global learning opportunities to a huge number of students so they can learn anytime and anywhere. The value and applicability of the MOOC model in the current era of higher education and the nature of learning in such an open online format need to be investigated. This study focused on participants' experiences and perceived value of participation in connectivist MOOCs (cMOOCs) in terms of dealing with an abundance of resources and tools, learning activities, and network engagement. The results suggest a high extent of technology deployment for learning and interactions by the participants in cMOOCs. Creating networks and developing professional connections through networking technologies are advantages of participating in cMOOCs. The study's findings contribute to a better understanding of the nature of learning and participation in MOOCs from the perspective of students, who are the main stakeholders of such new learning experiences.
Connectivism as a Learning Theory for the Digital Age
2012
George Siemens and Stephen Downes developed a theory for the digital age, called connectivism, denouncing boundaries of behaviorism, cognitivism, and constructivism. Their proposed learning theory has issued a debate over whether it is a learning theory or instructional theory or merely a pedagogical view. While the theory presented is important and valid, is it a tool to be used in the learning process for instruction or curriculum rather than a standalone learning theory? It has also forced educators to look at what is being done in digital education and rethink, debate, and philosophize over how each part fits. Continually evaluating how each new generation learns with regard to instruction and curriculum serves to hold education to high standards. Certainly this theory is worth our thorough consideration. Connectivism as a Learning Theory George Siemens and Stephen Downes developed a theory for the digital age, called connectivism, denouncing boundaries of behaviorism, cognitivi...
Connectivism: the educational theory of networks
2013
The significant use of electronic media in everyday life requires new considerations about learning, about communication, about being in the spaces of ubiquity. Siemenes (2005) proposed the theory of networks, the learning through networks, the connections between nodes, which Landow (2006), Bolter (1991, 1996, 2001), Cassany (2012) have at different times called even if other terms. The relevance of the theory of Connectivism offers new fields of investigation and experimentation for the area of education, which deserve reflections and insights that enable to validate, based on the need for education and training simultaneous, the applicability of a theory of networks.
Understanding knowledge network, learning and connectivism
Behaviorism, Cognitivism, Constructivism and other growing theories such as Actor-Network and Connectivism are circulating in the educational field. For each, there are allies who stand behind research evidence and consistency of observation. Meantime, those existing theories dominate the field until the background is changed or new concrete evidence proves their insufficiencies. Connectivists claim that the background or the general climate has recently changed: a new generation of researchers, connectivists propose a new way of conceiving knowledge. According to them, knowledge is a network and learning is a process of exploring this network. Other researchers find this notion either not clear or not new and probably, with no effect in the education field. This paper addresses a foggy understanding of knowledge defined as a network and the lack of resources talking about this topic. Therefore, it tries to clarify what it means to define knowledge as a network and in what way it can affect teaching and learning.
Participants' Perceptions of Learning and Networking in Connectivist MOOCs
Journal of Online Learning and Teaching
Massive open online courses (MOOCs) are growing exponentially in higher education. They have attracted the attention of higher education institutions, course designers, and policy makers. They challenge the mainstream of higher education and provide global learning opportunities to a huge number of students so they can learn anytime and anywhere. The value and applicability of the MOOC model in the current era of higher education and the nature of learning in such an open online format need to be investigated. This study focused on participants' experiences and perceived value of participation in connectivist MOOCs (cMOOCs) in terms of dealing with an abundance of resources and tools, learning activities, and network engagement. The results suggest a high extent of technology deployment for learning and interactions by the participants in cMOOCs. Creating networks and developing professional connections through networking technologies are advantages of participating in cMOOCs. The study's findings contribute to a better understanding of the nature of learning and participation in MOOCs from the perspective of students, who are the main stakeholders of such new learning experiences.
Connecting Web 2.0 to Connectivism in Supporting Students’ Learning
Objective – Students’ learning has been transformed by the advent of Web 2.0 which is defined as more personalized and a communicative form of the World Wide Web. This paper is positioned within the context of Web 2.0 through connectivism in changing the educational environment. Methodology/Technique – Connectivism is a learning theory of the digital age, which reflects the social interaction as part of the learning process. In contrast to traditional theories, students’ learning can result from social interaction. Students’ learning can visualised as connectivity; people derive skills and competencies from forming connections while focusing on connecting specialised information sets. Connectivity has established communication networks that enable students to obtain applicable knowledge and experiences. Findings – Web 2.0 tools such as blogs, social networking sites and wikis allow for a variety of online social interactions and moulding the way people relate to each other. It also supports students’ learning through the lens of connectivism. Novelty – People can still learn by applying the traditional learning theories, but the fundamental insight, aligning with the underpinning connectivism, relates to people’s ability to construct their own social networks that integrates with their personal learning environments to foster and sustain the flow of knowledge.
How do you connect? Analysis of social capital accumulation in connectivist MOOCs
Proceedings of the Fifth International Conference on Learning Analytics & Knowledge (LAK'15), 2015
Connections established between learners via interactions are seen as fundamental for connectivist pedagogy. Connections can also be viewed as learning outcomes, i.e. learners’ social capital accumulated through distributed learning environments. We applied linear mixed effects modeling to investigate whether the social capital accumulation interpreted through learners’ centrality to course interaction networks, is influenced by the language learners use to express and communicate in two connectivist MOOCs. Interactions were distributed across the three social media, namely Twitter, blog and Facebook. Results showed that learners in a cMOOC connect easier with the individuals who use a more informal, narrative style, but still maintain a deeper cohesive structure to their communication.
Participatory learning culture and community formation in connectivist MOOCs
Interactive Learning Environments, 2018
The purpose of this research is to better understand community formation in MOOCs through employing combined lenses of connectivism, rhizomatic learning, actor-network theory, community of practice, and community of inquiry. In a sequential explanatory mixed methodology design, social network analysis and nethnography were used to analyze and interpret data from a five-week, open and freely available MOOC, #humanMOOC, conducted in late 2015 and early 2016. The findings revealed that both intrinsic and extrinsic drives have unique roles in community formation process and support. These include respect and transparency in mutual communication, being socially visible and building a digital identity, seeing the relationships and patterns among the ideas, and being emotionally present and creating a welcoming, safe place are some effective internal drives, while opportunities to connect to personally meaningful sources or nodes, being able to wander among open ecologies, using nonhuman elements to facilitate learning, creating a safe base ground for initial activities, and creating community goods and well-designed learning spaces that meet diverse needs of the learners are some external drives.